Mushi - The Rex in Ventnor — Restaurant in England

If there was an option to give no stars, I would...

We arrived in Ventnor for a short weekend break, and found The Rex. I called to book and had a very abrupt, rude gentleman on the phone, who practically shouted what little English he had and barely remembered to ask my name for the booking before hanging up.

In person, this gentleman was just as rude.

We arrived and he then realised that the table for 4 was actually 2 adults and 2 kids. (9 years old and 5years old). He immediately started to tell us that our children had to behave or else we would be asked to leave. We had literally just walked in and the kids had not said one word. So we explained we had booked and the gentleman told us that if I had said that we were 2 kids and 2 adults he would have refused our booking. So I explained that there was nothing on the website to indicate that kids were not welcome. He explained that the restaurant is for couples and adults and they don't want kids around. Again, I said you don't say that kids aren't welcome in the evening on the website, and actually you have reviews from people saying how welcome kids were and how good the food is. Anyway, we were seated in the corner, out of the way from the main restaurant, by the front door on the way to the toilets. But, we didn't mind, as long as we had a table and the food was good. We thought, it's all a misunderstanding and they will still serve us... We were not given any cutlery. Nobody came to take our food order. Nobody came to take our drinks order. The lady serving walked past us over 10 times, taking other orders, coffees, mains and desserts... And we had on our best smiles and the kids were very, very well behaved... But after 25mins when no one came to take our order, we gave up. I heard the original gentleman ask the lady to take our order, and obviously she refused and he then appeared and said, ok, I take your order, you can't share, the kids have to eat separately. He then went on again about how the kids weren't welcome... And by this point we had had enough of being talked to like this... We said, thanks, but you obviously don't want us here, so we will go. And we quietly left, and he kept talking about how kids weren't welcome even as we walked out of the door!!! We walked a few metres down the road and found stripped, which is marvellous and had amazing food. I guess if you are a couple and fit the profile that this restaurant is trying to achieve, then you would be welcomed. But being Indian, with 2 kids, we didn't fit their profile and they did not make us feel welcome. Please note that there was an underlying racial undertone that we were very aware of. It was an undercurrent and nothing was outwardly said, but there was a tone and a look from both the gentleman and the lady that we both registered and were aware of. Good luck with this booking and this...

Horrible experience, racist behaviour from the host. I visited Isle of Wight with my husband and parents this summer and had the pleasure of attempting to dine at the Rex in Ventnor. If you spend a lot of time in London, you soon forget that racism still exists to this day. On the evening in question, we were celebrating my parents' 32nd anniversary. My mom was craving good Italian food, it was Sunday night and late, so we walked over to the Rex at Ventnor whose google reviews promised a lovely evening. But the moment we walked in, things started getting uncomfortable.

We were greeted by an older gentleman at the entrance, whose response to a table of 4 was "Just want to set your expectations, we will need at least 30 minutes to seat you. If you need to eat right away, there is an Indian restaurant down the street" That's alright mate, we are not looking to have Indian food anyway. We may be brown, but we are keen to try your pizzas. After I noticed an empty table in the corner, which was apparently not reserved and available, I was asked why there was a 30 minute timeline to be seated. Anyway, assuring ourselves that it was probably a misunderstanding on our part and with the gentleman's consent, we sat ourselves at the table. Tonight being a special evening, we figured, the food portions are large, so perhaps we share meals between ourselves and order up drinks.

The older gentleman returns to take our order. We start to place our order, which would have been 2 large pizzas to share amongst ourselves and cocktails all around. But while I am on the pizza to share, the waiter interrupts me that I must order a main each, or a minimum of £15 per person because the tables are expensive. He went so far as to say, "this is not an Indian restaurant, we dont share meals". Okay! If you had let me finish, you could've done the math - we were within your "rule". I should note this rule around ordering wasnt mentioned on their website, on their menus, when we entered or anywhere in the restaurant.

I look around at the other tables - single white man sat at a table of 4 with just drinks. I see another table where others are drinking and only one person has food in front of him. And I quickly realised that as coloured people, we are the only ones in the entire restaurant. Ok, I get your point mate, we dont want to be somewhere where we are not welcome. At that point, we thanked the gentleman and left with our dignities in tact. Next time, you don't want any other ethnicities in your restaurant, just be up front about it. At least, we know not to expose ourselves to the insult of double standards simply because of our ethnicity. And thank you very much for a clear example of racism on my parents's wedding anniversary, I have been meaning to expose my...

This restaurant does not deserve a single star. We have come across the most atrociously rude behavior from the owner at the door of his restaurant, and we were blatantly turned away in the most unreasonable fashion even though we had already reserved a table with him on the phone.

Having already understood that the owner did not want young children running around in the restaurant, I reassured him on the phone that we had two well behaved young girls aged 12 and nearly 10, to which he agreed to offer us a table on, not one, but two evenings. As we approached the doorstep of the restaurant, we were met by an older man who gave us a look without a word and shooed us away! When I explained our prior booking, he appeared to remember but instantly pointed out that my elder daughter was not 12 years old based on her looks! Admittedly we are a mixed race family and my daughter is one of the smallest in her class in her second year of secondary school. But he was not having any of our justification of her age.

The worst irony was that there was clearly another family with two even smaller children already having a meal in the restaurant! He claimed that they were his family (denied by that family afterwards as we stayed in the same hotel!), that it was his restaurant and he could let whoever in as he wanted. We did not wish to upset any of the existing diners but walked away feeling extremely frustrated and traumatized, particularly for our young girls.

I am a professional in my early 50s and have travelled the globe and seen the world. Never have I come across such appallingly rude, arrogant and prejudiced manners in any public service. But I have since caught up with many 1 star reviews of the Rex Restaurant, complaining about the consistently rude, sometimes racist behaviour, and his dislike of children in general. I couldn’t agree more. I am only so pleased that we were never let in so that I didn’t have to pay...